JPH08288920A - Two-way broadcast method and responder with respect to two-way broadcast program - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce a data quantity multiplexed onto a broadcast signal by allowing a broadcast station to broadcast designation data used for a reply among telephone number cross reference table information stored in a memory of the responder multiplexed on a broadcast signal. CONSTITUTION: Multiplexed telephone number information or the like is reproduced as a DTMF sound from a speaker of a television receiver 21. An adaptor 25 is provided with a microphone and with a decoder for the DTMF signal. Then the sound from the speaker of the television receiver 21 is picked up by the microphone, a DTMF decoder extracts a DTMF signal included in the picked-up voice signal and decodes the signal to reproduce the multiplexed information such as a telephone number. Then the adaptor 25 connects to a telephone line 31 and reply or reply information is sent as required by using the reproduced information such as the telephone number.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bidirectional broadcasting method and a bidirectional broadcasting response device for broadcasting bidirectional programs which are expected to be responded from a receiving side through a telephone line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, quiz programs, TV shopping,
There are many viewer-participation-type broadcast programs in which a response request is provided to the viewer in a broadcast program such as a questionnaire survey, and the response to the response request is transmitted from the viewer to the broadcast side by using a telephone or a facsimile. It is provided.

In the case of such a viewer participation type broadcast program, information such as the telephone number of the reply destination (response destination) of the response is
Provided by broadcast program. For example, in the case of television broadcasting, the telephone number of the response destination is displayed on the screen for a certain period of time by using superimpose or the like, or is provided as voice by announcing the cast of the program. Similar programs are also provided in radio broadcasting.

In this case, the viewer who wants to make a response receives the telephone number of the response destination displayed on the screen or provided by voice, for example, by memoizing or memorizing the telephone number of the response destination. Need to get Also, in the case of a television receiver that has a so-called still function that freezes the displayed image, the screen on which the telephone number of the response destination is displayed is frozen, and the telephone number of the response destination is recorded while the screen is stationary. Alternatively, you can dial directly.

However, as described above, in the case of a viewer participation type program that broadcasts a response destination telephone number to a viewer during a broadcast program, information such as the response destination telephone number is
It is usually only broadcast for a very short time. Therefore, some viewers may not be able to completely write down the telephone number of the response destination, or may have made a mistake and made a mistake because they made a memo in a hurry.

In addition, it may happen that the telephone number of the response destination could not be recorded because the memo paper and the writing implement could not be prepared. Also, in the case of a TV receiver with a still function, while trying to operate the still function,
There is also a case where the display of the telephone number of the response destination has ended.

As described above, since the viewer's side cannot always hold the correct telephone number to be answered, it may lead to an erroneous call.

[0008] Bi-directional broadcasting has been proposed which provides a so-called bi-directional program, which is more advanced than the conventional viewer participation type broadcast program as described above.

In this bidirectional broadcasting, information related to the bidirectional program such as a telephone number of a response destination is superposed on a predetermined empty horizontal section within a vertical blanking period of a video signal such as a teletext program. Or by sending digital data using the free area of FM telephone (for example, SCA area),
It is multiplexed with the broadcast signal and provided to the receiving side.

In this case, on the receiving side, information related to the interactive program is extracted from the received broadcast signal, decoded, and temporarily stored in the memory.
Use this information. For example, it is possible to reliably transmit the response to the interactive program by automatically dialing using the response destination telephone number extracted by decoding. For this reason, the viewer can see information related to the interactive program,
For example, it is not necessary to write down or memorize the telephone number of the respondent.

[0011]

However, in general, telephone number information is relatively long with 10 digits. For example, when there are a plurality of respondents, it is necessary to send the 10-digit telephone number a plurality of times. In addition to the telephone number information, in order to avoid congestion on the telephone line, transmission restriction information for the sender (for example, only the user's telephone number with an even end can be answered) and other interactive programs In order to send the control information necessary for the response to the receiver, the amount of multiplexing information becomes large. For this reason, the decoding time on the receiving side becomes long, and the degree of freedom in producing interactive programs is limited.

Further, the inventor of the present invention has previously proposed a multiplexing method for improving the drawbacks of the conventional multiplexing method. In the previously proposed method, however, the amount of information to be multiplexed is large. Then, there is a problem described below.

That is, according to the above-described multiplexing method, the information related to the interactive program can be extracted from the broadcast signal and reliably obtained, but the receiver having the decoding circuit for the multiplexed information is provided. There is a problem that there is a need. Further, different decoding circuits are required depending on each broadcasting system such as NTSC, BS, CS, MUSE, AM / FM radio, so that the receiver becomes expensive. For viewers, it is a great burden to prepare a receiver for interactive broadcasting as described above.

Further, on the receiving side, together with the receiver equipped with the above-mentioned decoding circuit, response information is broadcast through the telephone line based on the information related to the interactive program decoded by the decoding circuit of the receiver. A communication device for transmitting to the side is required. This communication device may be built in the receiver or may be separate from the receiver.

When the communication device is built into the receiver,
Since the telephone line is connected to the receiver, there is a problem that the telephone line needs to be extended and routed. Another problem is that the wiring to the receiver is complicated and the wiring for the telephone line is expensive.

On the other hand, even when the communication device is provided separately from the receiver, the communication device has information such as a telephone number of a response destination which is information related to the interactive program decoded by the decoding circuit of the receiver. To be supplied, it must be connected to the receiver and requires a cable to connect the receiver to the communication device. For this reason, as in the case where the communication device is built in the receiver, the wiring becomes complicated, and when the communication device and the reception device are arranged apart from each other, it is necessary to extend and route the cable connecting them. .

As described above, whether the communication device is built in the receiver or a separate device, the telephone line or the connection cable needs to be wired, and the bidirectional communication can be easily performed. I can't enjoy the program. In addition, if the telephone line and the connection cable are inadvertently wired, it may cause a problem such as the user getting stuck.

Therefore, the present applicant has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 6-1918.
As No. 85, there has been previously proposed a method of mixing two-way program-related information such as a telephone number as a DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) signal in broadcast sound and multiplexing the information.

When this method is applied to, for example, television broadcasting, the television receiver is not provided with a decoder for multiplex information, a conventional ordinary television receiver is used, and a response device is used as the television receiver. The machine is a configuration of an adapter device that is not connected by a cable or the like.

That is, in the case of the method proposed above,
Information such as multiplexed telephone numbers can be read from the speaker of the television receiver by the so-called "beep,""beep,""pack"
Is reproduced as a DTMF sound. Therefore, a microphone is provided in the adapter device and a decoder for the DTMF signal is provided, and the sound emitted from the speaker of the television receiver is picked up by the microphone, and the DTMF decoder extracts the DTMF signal included in the picked-up sound signal. Then, the multiplexed information such as the telephone number is reproduced by decoding. The adapter device is connected to a telephone line and uses the reproduced telephone number and other information to issue a response and to transmit response information as necessary.

According to the previously proposed invention, a receiving system for enjoying a two-way broadcast by directly using a built-in tuner device capable of receiving a broadcast signal, such as a current television receiver or radio receiver. Can be realized.

Since the information related to the interactive program is provided as an audible sound, the information related to the interactive program such as the answering telephone number can be received wirelessly. It needs to be connected to a line, but it does not need to be connected to a television receiver with a cable, which is very convenient.

In addition, NTSC, BS, CS, MUSE,
Interactive programs such as AM / FM radio can be provided regardless of the broadcasting system. In addition, the current receiver can be used for the interactive program, and the DTMF decoder is
It is possible to use mass-produced products that are generally used in telephones, and it is possible to construct a response system that suppresses costs.

However, in the case of the method of multiplexing information relating to an interactive program using this DTMF sound, when the amount of multiplexed information is large, the DTMF which is audible sound from the speaker of the receiving device for a relatively long time. There is a problem that the sound is continuous and annoying.

Further, the call to the telephone number of the response destination is
For example, in order to specify only the user who has the above-mentioned adapter device, it is necessary to conceal the telephone number of the response destination from other persons, but by directly multiplexing the telephone number with DTMF sound. If it is transmitted, anyone can know the telephone number only by providing the DTMF decoder, so that the confidentiality of the telephone number cannot be realized.

In view of the above, the present invention is capable of transmitting a relatively large amount of information related to a two-way program to a response device on the receiving side in a state where the amount of information multiplexed in a broadcast signal is small. It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to easily conceal a telephone number of a response destination, and to enable only a response from a specific response device.

[0027]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the bidirectional broadcasting method according to the present invention, a bidirectional broadcasting which provides a bidirectional program expecting a response from a broadcasting side through a telephone line of a receiver. In the method, the broadcasting side multiplexes into the broadcasting signal designation information for designating a telephone number to be used as a response destination telephone number for the interactive program from among telephone numbers stored in a memory provided in the receiving side device. The feature is that it was broadcasted.

A response device for interactive broadcasting according to the present invention is a response device for transmitting a response to a interactive program provided by broadcasting via a telephone line, and the telephone number of the response destination is One or a plurality of memories for storing, a decoding means for decoding the information designating the telephone number of the response destination multiplexed in the broadcast signal, and the designation information decoded by the decoding means It comprises a means for reading a telephone number and a response processing means for making an automatic call using the read destination telephone number when the response is transmitted.

In this case, the multiplexed information can be mixed with the broadcast sound by using the DTMF signal.

[0030]

In the case of the present invention having the above-described structure, the responding device side is provided with a memory for storing a plurality of telephone numbers to which the interactive program is to be answered. The specification information indicating whether to use the response destination telephone number is multiplexed with the broadcast signal and broadcast. The designated information has a smaller amount of information than when the telephone number is directly multiplexed. In particular, when the DTMF signal is used for multiplexing, the DTMF sound emitted from the speaker of the receiving device has the necessary minimum length.

Further, since the telephone number is not directly multiplexed, the telephone number of the response destination can be concealed from anyone other than the responder from the response device having the above-mentioned memory. It is possible to contract with the program service company and only allow responses from users who have a dedicated response device.

[0032]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a bidirectional broadcasting method and a bidirectional broadcasting response device according to the present invention will be described below.

This example is a case in which the present invention is applied to television broadcasting, and the information to be multiplexed is D in the broadcast audio signal.
It is mixed as a TMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) signal. Also, in response to interactive broadcasting,
It uses a telephone voting service called "telegong".

First, the DTMF signal will be described with reference to FIG.

[DTMF signal] The DTMF signal system is 1
One is an audio band signaling scheme in which two tones of a low frequency group (low group) and the other of a high frequency group (high group) are simultaneously sent. Each of these low and high frequency groups consists of tones of four audio band frequencies, no two of which are in articulatory relation.

In the DTMF signal, the four frequencies in the low group are, for example, 697 Hz, 770 Hz, 852 Hz, 941H.
z, and the four frequencies of the high group are, for example, 1209 Hz,
It is set to 1336 Hz, 1477 Hz, and 1633 Hz. Then, each of the low group and the high group is combined with one frequency, and each DTMF composed of the combination is combined.
Signals (each of these DTMF signals are hereinafter referred to as function signals) are assigned to push buttons "0" to "D" arranged in 4 rows and 4 columns, as shown in FIG.

In telephone communication, of the 16 combinations of function signals of DTMF signals, only 12 are generally used for subscriber address (telephone number) signals. That is,
"0" used as a so-called numeric keypad on the telephone
The function signals of the above 12 combinations correspond to the numbers "9" and the symbols "*" and "#". Figure 2
The function signals corresponding to the letters "A", "B", "C", and "D" indicated by broken lines in Fig. 3 are not generally used in Japan, but data using the push button (PB) dial. It is only used for transmission.

When a line is selected by a telephone number using such a DTMF signal, the signal transmission condition is as shown in FIG.
It is prescribed as shown in.

Due to the combination of the two frequencies and the transmission conditions as described above, the DTMF signal rarely occurs in the natural world and can be clearly distinguished from natural sounds such as human voice. It is possible to multiplex (mix) the broadcast audio signal and broadcast it, and separation on the receiving side is relatively easy.

By the way, the DTMF signal is also used in a multi-function telephone, and by operating a push button type telephone from outside, a message recorded on the telephone at home can be played back or an answering machine can be recorded. You can record, play back, and delete the message.

[Explanation of Telephone Voting Service] In a viewer participation program that requests a response from the viewer by telephone or facsimile, the access is temporarily concentrated, resulting in congestion at the exchange on the receiving station side or the transmitting station side. The local area managed by the exchange may not be dialed or it may be difficult to make a call.

This is because the telephone line network is not built for the situation where all telephones are used at the same time. This is because in terms of the cost of infrastructure and its running cost, constructing the infrastructure according to the peak call volume that rarely occurs will impose a huge burden, and the current infrastructure is It is designed and maintained so that congestion does not occur at normal call volumes.

However, in the case of an interactive program such as a quick-win quiz, the viewer is in a situation of using the telephone line at the same time, and the call volume temporarily jumps up. It becomes a congestion state.

Therefore, as a method of solving the above-mentioned problem of the congestion state caused by a large number of temporary calls, a telephone voting service called so-called telegon has been provided by a telephone company.

This telephone voting service considers the transmission as one vote, and for example, in a questionnaire survey or a quiz in a television or radio program, a telephone number for reception is provided for each of a plurality of answers to one question. Each is assigned, and the number of outgoing calls (incoming calls) to each telephone number is used as the number of votes.

In this case, the number of responses from the viewer to the telephone number is received and counted by the exchange in the area where the call originated, and the voting results counted in the exchanges in each area are totaled. Then, the voting destination, for example, the broadcasting station side is notified. Since the call is received by the exchange in the area where the call originated, the trunk line up to the voting destination is not used, and the congestion state in the trunk line is avoided.

This telephone voting service will be described with reference to a specific example.
When broadcasting a questionnaire survey of a favorite baseball team, as shown on the television screen 1 of FIG. 4, a different response telephone number is set and broadcasted for each baseball team as a response option.

Each viewer 2 refers to the television screen 1 and dials the telephone number of the baseball team he / she prefers.

Then, the telephone station 3 side receives an incoming call for each answering telephone number at the subscriber exchange station in the region of the viewer, and sends a reception completion notification message such as "Thank you for voting" to the responder. Along with sending, a primary count of the number of incoming calls for each answering telephone number is performed. On the telephone station 3 side, the service network control station collects data on the number of incoming calls primarily collected by the subscriber exchange stations all over the country, and further the collected data is totaled by the management station. The management station calculates the number of incoming calls for each answering telephone number that has been totaled, and the call number notification line 3a
To the call notification computer 4a of the television station 4.

The television station 4 broadcasts a screen such as a graph of the aggregation result as shown in the television screen 5 of FIG. 4 in order to reflect the aggregation result notified from the telephone station in the broadcast program.

In the telegon service, a request from a service contractor (broadcasting station 4 in this example), as shown in FIG.
In this example, in response to a request from the customer control computer 4b, the call from any responder can be directly received by the service contractor (in this example, the broadcasting station operator 4c). . This service is called cut-through, and the telephone station 3 sends a connection notice to the responder who becomes cut-through. In this cut-through state, the cut-through reception line 3 is used.
Through c, a direct call or data exchange between the responder and the service contractor is possible. However, the number of lines for accepting this cut-through is limited in advance.

The telephone number of this telephone voting service is 0
180-0xxxxxxx (x is an arbitrary number) is assigned. Therefore, it becomes a 10-digit telephone number, and if this number is multiplexed and transmitted as many as the number of options for each question, it becomes very long.

Therefore, in this example, as will be described later, a plurality of telephone number correspondence tables in which the telephone numbers of the telephone voting service as described above are made to correspond to a plurality of options are prepared in advance, and a memory of the response device is prepared. The correspondence table to be used is designated from the broadcasting side, and the answering telephone number is designated for a plurality of options to reduce the information amount of the multiplexed information.

[Outline of Bidirectional Broadcast System] FIG. 5 shows an outline of the bidirectional broadcast system of this embodiment. The bidirectional broadcast system of this example is the system 10 of the broadcasting station.
And a receiver system 20 and a telephone station system 30.

In the system 10 of the broadcasting station, 11 is a studio of the broadcasting station, and the interactive program created here is transmitted from the broadcasting antenna 12 to the receiving device system 20 by the ground wave or via the artificial satellite 13. To be done.
For example, in an interactive program such as a quiz program or a questionnaire survey, a question and a plurality of options for each question are broadcast on the screen of the television receiver or by an announcement by the moderator of the program. Questions are usually
One or more will be broadcast. At this time, the interactive program related information has a format of DTMF, which will be described later.
It is multiplexed with the broadcast audio signal in the form of a signal.

In the case of this embodiment, the broadcasting station transmits "A", "B", "C", which is not used for PB line selection as described above, when transmitting information related to the interactive program.
Among the function signals meaning “D”, “A”, “B”,
The function signal of "C" is used as transmission start information of information related to the interactive program, and the function signal of "D" is used as transmission end information.

Since there are three types of transmission start information, in this example, information relating to three types of interactive programs can be transmitted separately. That is, the information related to the three types of interactive programs is broadcast by being divided into one of the function signals of “A”, “B”, and “C” and the function signal of “D” for each type. It

For example, information regarding response access to the interactive program, for example, a telephone number (reception telephone number) of the response destination,
The information such as the transmission rate is transmitted between the function signal "A" as the transmission start information and the function signal "D" that is the transmission end information. Similarly, information regarding environment settings such as the end limit of the answering telephone number and the current time setting is the information regarding clearing of the received data between the function signal of "B" and the function signal of "D". Are multiplexed and broadcast as signals sandwiched between the "C" function signal and the "D" function signal.

On the receiving side, a numerical value or a symbol sandwiched between any one of the function signals "A", "B" and "C" as the transmission start information and the function signal "D" as the transmission end information. The data is regarded as a data string (information group) of information related to the interactive program, and as described later, the data is separately stored in a predetermined storage area of the memory.

The receiver system 20 comprises an existing television receiver 21 and an adapter device 25 for receiving and responding to interactive program information. Adapter device 25
Is the adapter device body 22 connected to the telephone line 31.
And a remote commander 23 using infrared rays that functions as a response operation unit. The external telephone 24 can be connected to the adapter device 25.

The adapter device main body 22 has a receiving portion and a decoding portion for the infrared remote control signal of the remote commander 23. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the adapter device main body 22 can accommodate the remote commander 23 in a state where the infrared light emitting portion 23SD thereof faces the infrared light receiving portion 22PD. That is, as shown in FIG. 6 (A), the adapter device body 22 is provided with a recess 22R for accommodating the remote commander 23, and the remote commander 23 is accommodated only in the recess 22R. The external appearance is as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6B, the remote commander 2
In a state in which 3 is stored in the adapter device body 23, various buttons 23a, 23b, 23 of the remote commander 23
When c or 23K is operated, a remote control signal corresponding to the operation is sent to the adapter device main body 22 via the light emitting unit 23SD and the light receiving unit 22PD and decoded, so that it is as if receiving one piece of interactive program information. And it becomes a usage mode that operates as an adapter device for response operation.

As will be described later in detail, the adapter device main body 22 is an NCU as an interface with a telephone line.
(Network control unit)
As shown in FIG. 1, a telephone line 31 and an external telephone 24 are connected to the adapter device body 22. In this example, the external telephone 24 can access the telephone line 31 via the adapter device main body 22 and can perform a normal telephone function.

As will be described later, the adapter device 25
Has a so-called hands-free telephone function. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the remote commander 2
3 is provided with an on-hook button 23a, an off-hook button 23b, and a so-called ten-key (numerals etc.) button 23K. On the other hand, the adapter device main body 22 is provided with a microphone 22MC serving as a transmitter and a speaker 22SP serving as a receiver when used as a telephone.

When making a call as a hands-free telephone, the off-hook button 23b is pressed and the telephone number is dialed by the ten-key button 23K. Further, it is only necessary to press the off-hook button 23b for an incoming call from the other party. When talking to the other party, the transmitted voice from this is the microphone 22M.
The voice received from the other party is sent through the speaker 22
Try to listen from the SP. Then, when the talk with the other party is finished, the line can be opened by pressing the on-hook button 23a.

The adapter device body 22 also functions as a reception / decoder for interactive program information that is multiplexed and broadcast as a DTMF signal, and also as an interactive program response device in cooperation with the remote commander 23.

That is, in this example, the interactive program information is
Since the DTMF sound is mixed with the broadcast program sound and is emitted from the speaker 21SP of the television receiver 21,
As shown in FIG. 1, the adapter device body 22 picks up sound emitted from the speaker 21SP of the television receiver 21 with the microphone 22MC. Adapter device body 22
Has a function of extracting only DTMF sound from the collected sound and decoding information related to the interactive program, as described later.

In this example, since the telephone voting service is used for the response, the information required for the response is, for example, the response destination telephone number (telephone number of the telephone service) associated with each of the plurality of choices of the question.

In the case of this example, when a plurality of options and a telephone number to be responded to are multiplexed as a DTMF signal into a broadcast audio signal, the DTMF sound is frequently mixed in the broadcast audio, which is bothersome and the multiplex information is not available. In consideration of the fact that it takes a relatively long time to broadcast all, a memory such as an EEPROM in which a plurality of tabulated correspondences of choices (voting numbers) and telephone numbers are stored in advance in the adapter device main body 22 Is provided, and the table to be used is designated from the broadcast side from the plurality of tables. In this way, the table designation data alone is sufficient as the information to be multiplexed and sent from the broadcast side.

In this example, the built-in memory of the adapter device main body 22 has a telephone number correspondence table as table information and a telephone number correspondence table designation table (hereinafter, simply designated table) for designating this telephone number correspondence table. It is stored. FIG. 1 shows an example of a telephone number correspondence table and an example of a designation table, and shows the relationship between them.

In the case of this example, the telephone number correspondence table 42
1 shows the correspondence between a voting number corresponding to a plurality of option numbers for one question and a voting destination telephone number (response destination telephone number), as shown in FIG. ing. A table number is assigned to each telephone number correspondence table. In this example, the telephone number is the telephone number of the telephone voting service, so as described above,
Since the first five digits "0180-0" are fixed, this can be omitted, and the last five digits telephone number is stored in the memory. This makes it possible to reduce the amount of table data stored in the memory.

The designation table 41 stores an address indicating the storage position on the memory of the telephone number correspondence table of each table number. In the case of this example, as shown in FIG. 1, the designation table 41 is a two-dimensional table, and in this example, the addresses of the telephone number correspondence table are arranged in a matrix of horizontal direction × vertical direction = 10 × 10. It has become a thing.

In the case of this example, the designated data is a one-digit numerical value from 0 to 9 indicating the horizontal position of the designated table and 1 from 0 to 9 indicating the vertical position. It consists of a 2-digit numerical value and a 2-digit numerical value. For example, if the designated data is "11", the address of the telephone number correspondence table of table number 11 is read from the designated table 41, and the telephone number correspondence table of table number "11" is read from the memory by the address. become. In the case of this example, 100 telephone number correspondence tables from "00" to "99" can be designated. That is, 100 kinds of telephone number correspondence tables can be prepared in the memory.

The designation table need not necessarily be in a matrix form.

As described above, in this example, the telephone number correspondence table to be used can be read by the 2-digit designation data. Therefore, as the multiplexing information regarding the telephone number provided from the broadcasting side, only this 2-digit designation data is required.

Next, the response operation to the question in the case of this example is an option number selected by the user (responder) from a plurality of options preset and broadcasted to the question. The ten-key button 23K of the remote commander 23 is operated and input.

Prior to this response, the broadcasting station side sends information including the designated data of the correspondence table of the option numbers and the telephone numbers for the above-mentioned question, which is multiplexed with the broadcast voice as a DTMF signal. As described above, the adapter device main body 22 picks up the DTMF signal with the microphone 22MC, decodes it, extracts the specified data, reads the telephone number correspondence table from the memory, and responds to the response when responding. Used to get a phone number.

When the option number is selected as the answer to the question with the ten-key button 23K of the remote commander 23, the adapter device body 22 receives the remote control signal and the question number which is the target of the response operation. The selected option number is stored in the response history memory, the telephone number associated with the selected option number is acquired from the telephone number correspondence table read from the memory, and the telephone number is automatically dialed. .

As shown in FIG. 5, the subscriber switching center 32 of the telephone station accepts this incoming call and counts the number of incoming calls for each incoming call to the same telephone number. And each subscriber exchange 3
2 informs the telegon system 33 of the number of incoming calls to each telephone number counted by the exchange. The telegon system 33 is shown as one that performs the data collection and totalization function of the service network control station and management station described above.

In this way, in the telegon system 33, the total number of incoming calls for each option selected is notified to the computer in the studio of the broadcasting station through the telephone line 31 as the number of responders who have selected the option. Broadcasting station
The result of this aggregation is broadcast to users in an interactive broadcast program.

[Explanation of Responding Device] FIG. 6 shows a concrete configuration example of the adapter device 25 as the responding device of the receiving device system 20 shown in FIG. 5, that is, the adapter device main body 22.
And a remote commander 23.

As described above, in this example, the adapter device main body 22 has a function of sending a response to the interactive program through the telephone line (in this example, making a call to the telephone number corresponding to the option for the question), The sound from the speaker 21SP of the television receiver 21 is collected and the DT in the sound is collected.
It has a function of extracting only the MF sound and decoding the interactive program related information, and a function of receiving an infrared remote control signal from the remote commander 23.

Further, as described above, the adapter device main body 22 of this example needs to have a function of sending a response to the interactive program through the telephone line, so this should be used more actively. Thus, it has a function as a so-called hands-free telephone, which enables a call without holding a handset. First, an NCU (network control unit) system for this telephone function will be described.

Reference numeral 201 is a modular jack on the telephone line side, and 202 is a modular jack on the external telephone side. An off-hook detection circuit 203 of the external telephone is connected between the modular jacks 201 and 202. The off-hook detection circuit 203 of the external telephone detects the off-hook when the external telephone 24 connected to the modular jack 202 is off-hook, and the detection output is detected by a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) 3
00 is notified. The microcomputer 300 uses this external telephone 24
Control to be able to access the telephone line from.

Modular jack 201 on the telephone line side
In addition, the surge protection circuit 204 and the ring detection circuit 20
5, polarity reversal detection circuit 206, dial switch 20
7. Connected to the transformer 209 via the hook switch 208. Here, the line side and the microcomputer 300 side are insulated.

When the ring detection circuit 205 detects a ringing signal in which a voltage of 16 Hz and 75 V is intermittent when an incoming call is received through the telephone line, the detection output is detected by the microcomputer 300.
To notify.

When the polarity reversal detection circuit 206 detects that the polarity of the telephone line has been reversed, it notifies the microcomputer 300 of the detection output. Accordingly, the microcomputer 300 recognizes that the line is connected, that is, the incoming call is made to the outgoing call.

The dial switch 207 dials according to the line type and dial data sent from the microcomputer 300 through the dialer 210 at the time of calling. The line type is set by the user with respect to a line type setting DIP switch (not shown). If the setting is a dial line, the microcomputer 300 controls the dial switch via the dialer 210 to set 10p.
Dialing is performed with a pulse of ps / 20 pps, and if the line is a PB line (push line), the sending amplifier 211 is dialed with a PB signal (DTMF signal) via the dialer 210.

The dial data is stored in the adapter device main body 22.
When the remote commander 23 is used as a hands-free telephone, the microcomputer receives a key operation for inputting a telephone number by the user, and the microcomputer 300 sends it out. Further, when the adapter device main body 22 and the remote commander 23 are used as response operation devices for interactive programs, the response destination telephone number stored in the memory of the microcomputer 300 (options sent from the broadcasting station as interactive program information) Each telephone number) is read out, sent out from the microcomputer 300, and automatically dialed.

The hook switch 208 is the microcomputer 300.
The control from switches between the on-hook (line open) state and the off-hook (DC loop closed) state. In the case of this example, the hook switch 208 is switched according to the operation of the on-hook button 23b and the off-hook button 23a of the remote commander 23.

The speakerphone 212 is a communication path circuit for performing 2-line to 4-line conversion, and supplies the other party's voice (received voice) sent from the telephone line through the transformer 209 to the speaker 22SP via the speaker amplifier 213. , The microphone amplifier 2 picks up the sound with the microphone 22MC.
The voice (transmitted voice) through 14 is transmitted to the telephone line through the transformer 209.

The received voice from the transformer 209 is
It is supplied to the tone detection circuit 215. The tone detection circuit 215 detects various call progress tones such as a busy tone, a ring back tone, and a dial tone, and notifies the microcomputer 300 of them.

Further, the DTMF receiver 217 extracts the DTMF signal from the input voice and outputs it as a numerical value, #, *,
It is decoded into information of symbols such as A, B, C, and D. The DTMF receiver 217 receives either the voice received through the transformer 209 or the voice picked up by the microphone 22MC and passed through the amplifier 214 after being switched and selected by the analog switch circuit 216. The switch circuit 216 selects a voice signal from the amplifier 214 during a non-call, and a received voice signal from the transformer 209 during a call (when the hook switch 208 is off-hook) in response to a switching signal from the microcomputer 300. To switch to.

DTM from this DTMF receiver 217
The decode signal of the F signal is supplied to the microcomputer 300. The microcomputer 300 extracts the response start information and the designated data of the above-mentioned telephone number correspondence table from the decoded signal of the DTMF signal, and performs the corresponding processing. This processing will be described later in detail.

The microcomputer 300 has a so-called one-chip microcomputer configuration, and has a built-in CPU, a ROM storing programs and fixed data, and a nonvolatile RAM and a volatile RAM. In the case of this example, the memory 218 is connected to the outside of the microcomputer 300. The memory 218 is composed of an electrically erasable and writable ROM (EEPROM), and stores the above-mentioned telephone number correspondence table and designation table information.

Further, in the memory 218, identification information (identification information is hereinafter referred to as ID) peculiar to each receiving device is set at the time of factory shipment, and the user ID is registered by the user's input setting. . As the user ID, for example, the telephone number of the user is registered.

The display element 22LD is a D element required for turning on / off the power of the adapter device main body 22 and for responding.
During reception and decoding of the TMF signal, it is for displaying the cut-through state of the telegon and the telephone number of the response destination, and the microcomputer 300 controls lighting, turning off, and blinking.

The remote control light receiving section 22PD receives the infrared remote control signal from the remote commander 23 and notifies the microcomputer 300 of the remote control signal. Microcomputer 30
Reference numeral 0 is a built-in demodulator that decodes this remote control signal.

The remote commander 23 includes a one-chip microcomputer 231, a button group 232 including buttons such as numbers 23K, on-hook buttons 23a, and off-hook buttons 23b, and a transmitting section 233 having a light emitting section. The microcomputer 231 scans the button group 232 at regular intervals to detect button press. Then, the microcomputer 231
When the button press is detected, sends a remote control signal corresponding to the pressed button to the transmitter 233. Transmission unit 23
The light emitting unit 3 transmits the remote control signal as infrared rays to the light receiving unit 22PD.

Reference numeral 219 indicates that the response is restricted or the user performs a response operation outside the time limit.
It is an alarm buzzer used for informing that it is an inappropriate response operation, and is controlled by the microcomputer 300.

[Use of the adapter device as a hands-free telephone] When the user uses the adapter device as a hands-free telephone to make a call, the user presses the off-hook button 23b of the remote commander 23 and then pushes the number button 23K. Use to dial the destination telephone number. Then, the microcomputer 2 of the remote commander 23
31 detects this and, for example, the off-hook button 23
The LED embedded in b is turned on to display the off-hook state, and the information of pressing the off-hook button 23b is transmitted via the transmitter 233 to the microcomputer 3 of the adapter device main body 22.
00, and then the telephone number information.

The microcomputer 300 displays the telephone number on the display element 2
It is displayed on 2LD and controls the NCU system described above.
Dial the other party. Then, after waiting for the response of the other party, the DC loop is closed and the call is ready. In this call-enabled state, the user sends the transmitted voice from the microphone 22MC and the received voice from the other party to the speaker 2
Listen from 2SP.

When the call ends, the on-hook button 23a is pressed. Then, the microcomputer 231 turns off the LED of the off-hook button 23b and, for example,
The LFD embedded in the on-hook button 23a is lit only while the button 23a is being pressed. Then, the remote commander 23 uses the on-hook button 23a.
Information of the pressing of the
To notify. Upon receiving this, the microcomputer 300 sets the line open state.

When the incoming call from the other party is received by the adapter device as a hands-free telephone, the user presses the off-hook button 23b. When the adapter device body 22 receives the remote control signal of the off-hook button 23b from the remote commander 23, the adapter device body 22 closes the DC loop and makes the call possible. After that, it is almost the same as when making a call. As described above, the adapter device can be used as a hands-free telephone.

[Reception of Interactive Program Related Information] In order to receive and extract the DTMF sound from the sound output from the speaker of the television receiver, the microphone 22MC of the adapter device main body 22 is connected to the speaker of the television receiver 21. 21
Turn to the SP direction.

When the on-hook button 23a or the off-hook button 23b is not operated, since the switch circuit 216 is switched to the microphone amplifier 214 side, the DTMF receiver 217 outputs the sound emitted from the speaker 21SP of the television receiver 21. D included
Extract TMF sound. D from the DTMF receiver 217
The decode signal of the TMF signal is supplied to the microcomputer 300.

In the case of this example, in the interactive program from the broadcasting station, the part where the viewer's response (voting in the case of telegon) is expected, and first, as the transmission start information of the information related to the interactive program, for example, The functional sound "A" of DTMF is multiplex-broadcasted, then the 2-digit numerical value represented by the DTMF signal is multiplexedly broadcast as the designated data of the telephone number correspondence table, and finally, the transmission of the information related to the interactive program ends. DTMF functional sound “D” is multiplexed and broadcast as information.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a process of receiving, decoding and storing information related to the interactive program in the adapter device 25.

When the adapter device 25 is powered on,
The pointer indicating the memory address for storing the interactive program related information in the memory 218 is cleared. Also, the timer counter for so-called time-out determination is cleared (step S1).

Then, the microcomputer 300 searches the output of the DTMF decoder built in the DTMF receiver 217 constantly or at a predetermined cycle (step S2),
It is determined whether or not the DTMF signal is mixed with the audio signal of the broadcast program currently being received (step S3). In addition,
The DTMF decoder does not decode speech that does not meet the convention shown in FIG.

Then, in step S3, when the DTMF signal is not detected at the scanning timing,
Proceed to step S4, and D which has already started transmission as a multiplexed signal
It is determined whether or not the TMF function signal "A" is received, and if the transmission start signal "A" is not yet received, the process returns to step S2 to wait for the next decoder scanning timing,
The following processing is repeated.

When the transmission start function signal "A" has already been received, the process proceeds from step S4 to step S5, and the transmission start function signal "A" is received for a certain period of time.
For example, if 10 minutes have elapsed, it is considered as a time-out, the process jumps to step S14, and a buzzer sound indicating a failure to receive the interactive program related information, for example, "beep!"
It is generated from 19. Then, the process returns to step S2. When it is determined in step S5 that the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process also returns to step S2.

At step S3, D is set at the scanning timing.
When the TMF signal is detected, it is the transmission end D
It is determined whether the TMF function signal is "D" (step S
6) If "D", jump to step S12 to check whether the received information has consistency, and if there is consistency, proceed to step S13 to sound a buzzer indicating normal reception end. , For example, “beep!” Is generated from the buzzer 219. Then, the process returns to step S2.

When it is determined in step S6 that the DTMF signal is not the "D" function signal, the process proceeds to step S7, in which the pointer indicating the address of the memory for storing the received data moves to the beginning of the storage area. It is determined whether or not it is shown.

If the pointer indicates the beginning,
In step S8, it is determined whether or not the transmission start function signal "A" is received, and the transmission start function signal "A" is received.
If not, the process returns to step S2 as invalid, and if the transmission start function signal is "A", the process proceeds to step S9. Also,
If the pointer does not point to the beginning in step S7,
The process proceeds from step S7 to step S9.

In step S9, it is determined whether or not the pointer exceeds the storage range of the multiplex data in the memory. If the pointer exceeds the storage range, the process proceeds to step S14, and a buzzer sound indicating a failure to receive the interactive program related information is issued. It is generated from 219. If it does not exceed the storage range, the process proceeds to step S10, the received data is stored in the storage position indicated by the pointer, the pointer is updated in the next step S11, and the process returns to step S2.

It should be noted that the normal reception end or abnormal end of the multiplex data can be more surely indicated by not only the buzzer sound but also the display on the liquid crystal display part of the adapter device 25 and the blinking of the LED. You can Also, 1
It is also possible to notify the user of the reception process by displaying, for example, "*" on the liquid crystal display section of the adapter device 25 each time one DTMF signal is detected and decoded.

Further, FIG. 8 shows a flow at the time of receiving multiplex data. During the reception, the remote commander 2
When the button operation is performed in 3, the operation is performed in parallel. However, while the interactive program related information is being received, the reception flag is turned on so that the transmission based on the user's response operation is not performed. This is because a response is not sent due to halfway access information being received. The reception flag is turned off when the reception of the interactive program related information is completed.

By the above operation, the designated data of the telephone number correspondence table required for the response is received and stored in the memory. In this case, as described above, the multiplex data sent from the broadcast side includes not only the table designation data but also, for example, information for limiting the responders.

For example, when the access is restricted only to the viewer who has a specific telephone number (subscriber number) as the information about the environment setting, for example, when the access is permitted only to the number ending with 0. , DT like 0 # 0
A data string formed by the function signals of the MF signal, or a data string formed by the function signals of the DTMF signal, such as 0 # 1, when access is permitted only to the telephone number ending in 1. Are respectively multiplexed with the main broadcast audio signal and transmitted while being sandwiched between the "B" function signal and the "D" function signal. In this case, the number “0” before the symbol “#” is the number next to the symbol “#”,
It means to allow access from the telephone number that has it at the end.

In addition, various multiplexed data, such as restriction information for restricting the response operation within a fixed time, is provided from the broadcast side.

[Response Sending Process] If there is table designation data in the received multiplex data, the telephone number correspondence table designated by the designated data is used in the following manner, An automatic call is made to the telephone number to which the response is made in response to the response operation.

FIG. 9 shows a flow of processing operations for automatically calling a response when a response (voting) operation of an interactive program using telegon is performed. That is, when the response command corresponding to the response operation of the user is received by the adapter device body 22 from the remote commander 23, the routine of FIG. 9 is entered.

First, in step S11, it is determined whether a response (voting) is possible. This is whether or not the table specification data necessary for the response (voting) has already been received (whether or not the reception flag is turned off), whether or not the person is a call-restricted person, and This is a process for checking whether the telephone line is free.

When the response is not possible, the voting is invalid, so the process jumps from step S11 to step S17 to generate a buzzer sound indicating an error, and the response transmission processing routine is ended.

When the response is possible, step S
In step S12, the address of the telephone number correspondence table indicated by the table designation data is specified from the designation table 41, and the telephone number correspondence table of that address is read from the memory 218.

Next, proceeding to step S13, the telephone number of the voting destination corresponding to the voting number selected by the user is extracted from the read telephone number correspondence table, and step S
At 14, the response is transmitted.

Next, in step S15, it is determined whether or not the transmission of the response is normally completed. If the response is normally completed, the process is advanced to step S16, and a buzzer sound indicating normal completion is generated. , The response transmission processing routine is ended. If a busy tone is detected during automatic calling (off-hook) or an incoming call is not made, and a response is not correctly sent, step S
The routine proceeds from step 15 to step S17, a buzzer sound indicating an error is generated, and this response transmission processing routine is ended.

[Other Example of Table Information] The telephone number information in the telephone number correspondence table shown in FIG. 1 is the telephone number itself. However, as will be described below, the telephone number is changed depending on the exchange side of the telephone company. We have less number information,
It is possible to prevent calls from general telephones other than the adapter device 25.

The telephone number correspondence table of the example of FIG. 10 is for the case where a shortened number is used as the voting destination telephone number of the telephone voting service. In this case, when a call is made using the two-digit short number "#XX", the telephone company recognizes this as the telephone number of the telephone voting service and receives the incoming call.

Further, the telephone number correspondence table of the example of FIG. 11 is used as the voting destination telephone number of the telephone voting service, and the function signals "A", "B", and "C" which cannot be transmitted from a general telephone.
"D" is used, and in this case as well, "A1" and "A"
When a call is made using a two-digit symbol and number such as "2" ..., the telephone company recognizes this as a telephone number of the telephone voting service and receives the incoming call.

In this way, by using the abbreviated number as the telephone number or by using the function signals "A", "B", "C", "D", etc., which cannot be transmitted from a general telephone,
The answering telephone number can be concealed to other than the owner of the adapter device, and the sender of the reply can be limited to the owner of the adapter.

In the above example, only the correspondence between the voting numbers and the telephone numbers can be designated as a table. However, for example, the reply destination of a certain response is designated to send the user ID or the user's device ID. When preparing as additional information of the correspondence table or when responding to a certain quiz, by designating the correspondence table, the ID of the responder who responds with the correct answer is transmitted, and It is also possible to specify on the broadcast side.

Information corresponding to the relative time from the reception of the response start function signal “A” to the response operation time is included in the response information as additional information in the correspondence table. In the case of a response to a question, it is possible to let the broadcast side know the speed of response time of the responder by designating the correspondence table.

FIG. 12 is an example of a correspondence table when the above-mentioned additional information is added to the telephone number information. In the following description, this correspondence table is called a parameter table in order to distinguish it from the telephone number correspondence table. In the case of this example as well, the designated table is exactly the same as the case of the telephone number correspondence table described above.

As shown in FIG. 12, the parameter table of this example is formed by writing the information necessary for forming the response information for the interactive program and the information necessary for transmitting the response information. There is.

In FIG. 12, the "response number" is a number that the user can select in response to a response request such as a quiz question provided by the interactive program. Further, the "response destination telephone number" is a telephone number to which the response information is transmitted, and in the case of this example, it is set corresponding to each response number. In addition, as for "response destination telephone number", the same telephone number is set for different response numbers, or the response destination is set to 1
Since it is a single place, the same telephone number may be set for all response numbers.

"Presence / absence of transmission information" is information indicating the presence / absence of response information to be transmitted. When this information is "0 (none)", there is no response information to be transmitted, and the call is made. It will only be done. This is the case of a response using so-called telegon.

When the response destination is a telegong whose transmission information is "absent", the telephone number is 01800XX as described above.
Since it is decided like XXX, the first five digits of 01800
Can be omitted and only the last 5 digits can be stored in the table.

The "ID information" is the user ID or device ID.
It is information indicating whether or not the identification ID such as is transmitted in response information. Similarly, the "time information" is information indicating whether or not the response operation time is included in the response information and transmitted.

The "order number" and "card ID" are used in interactive programs such as TV shopping, and are information indicating whether the order number and the card ID are included in the response information and transmitted. Is.

The "response time" indicates the time during which the user can make a response operation input. In the case of this example, the response start information is sent from the broadcast side to the adapter device of this example as described above. Is designated as a relative time from the time of being provided to the microcomputer 300.

The "call origination time" indicates the response origination start time at which the user can make a response origination. In this example, like the "response time", the response origination time from the time point of the response start information is indicated. Shown as relative time.

[Another Example of Response Sending Process] Next, the parameter sending table of this example and the reply sending process for the interactive program in the responding device when the designated table is used will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 13 and 14. It will be explained with reference to FIG.

When the information indicating the start of response, for example, "AA" and the designated data are output as the reproduced sound of the DTMF signal from the speaker of the receiving device which receives and selects the interactive program, the adapter device main body 22 picks up the sound and decodes it. Then, the microcomputer 3 of the adapter device main body 22
When 00 detects a signal "AA" indicating the start of response, a timer (not shown; this may be a software timer or a timer circuit may be separately provided) is started, and a relative time from this point. Is measured (step S21).

The process of step S21 enables the user to perform a response operation. In this example, a response request from an interactive program, for example, provision of options for a question of a quiz includes information "AA" indicating the start of response,
It is performed prior to transmission of table designation data (hereinafter, simply designated data).

Then, when the microcomputer 300 detects the designated data, the microcomputer 300 stores the designated data in the memory 2 based on the designated data.
The corresponding parameter table stored in the memory 218 is read out via the designation table stored in 18 (step S22).

Next, the microcomputer 300 starts monitoring whether or not there is a response operation by the user (step S2).
3) When there is no response operation, it is determined whether or not the relative time provided by the above-described timer exceeds the response operation permission time indicated by the “response time” in the read parameter table. Yes (step S24).

In the determination processing of step S24, when the relative time provided by the timer exceeds the response operation permission time, the response operation after that is not permitted, for example, the buzzer 219 or the LED 22LD.
Is turned on to notify the user (step S2
5) Then, the response transmission process ends.

In the determination processing of step S24, when the response operation permission time has not yet elapsed, the processing is repeated from step S23.

In the process of step S23, when it is detected that the response operation by the user is performed, the microcomputer 300 displays the information of the time when the response operation is performed, which is indicated by the "time information" of the read parameter table. Is determined as necessary (step S26), and if "time information" is set to "absent" here, the process proceeds to step S28.

When the "time information" of the parameter table is "present" in the judgment processing of step S26, the relative time indicated by the timer is acquired (step S2).
7). Then, it is determined whether or not the “order number” or “card ID” in the parameter table indicates “present”, and whether or not there is designation of information that the user needs to input (hereinafter simply referred to as input information). Is determined (step S2
8). If the request for input information is not set in the parameter table, the process proceeds to step S32.

When the request for input information is set in the parameter table, for example, "order number" when the interactive program is TV shopping, and credit card identification information which is information about the payment method. Items such as "card ID" for which the additional information is "present" are displayed on the liquid crystal display prompting the user to input (step S29).

When the user inputs the input information by operating the remote commander 23, the adapter device main body 22 accepts the input information into the microcomputer 300 via the remote control light receiving section 22PD and stores it in a memory such as a RAM. Hold (step S30).

Then, the microcomputer 300 confirms the parameters related to the input information in the parameter table,
It is determined whether there is any other information that needs to be input (step S31). When it is determined in the determination processing of step S31 that there is other information that needs to be input, the processing from step S29 is repeated.

When all the input information is input, or when the input information is unnecessary as described above, whether or not the time for sending the response is specified is specified from the parameter of "call time" in the parameter table. Is determined (step S32).

When the "calling time" is not designated in this step S32, the process immediately goes to step S34 to send a response. In step S32,
When the "calling time" is specified, the subsequent processing waits until the calling reference timing specified by the "calling time" in the parameter table (step S3).
3).

Then, in step S33, when the time indicated by the "calling time" in the parameter table has elapsed,
The response can be transmitted, and the process proceeds to step S34 to transmit the response. That is, the microcomputer 300 forms the off-hook state, automatically dials based on the “return destination telephone number” in the parameter table, transmits the response information formed based on the designation in the parameter table, and transmits all the response information. Then, the response transmission process is ended.

[Rewriting of table information in the memory 218 of the responding device] The table information in the memory 218 is written and registered in advance. This table is, for example, when the program organization is changed from the broadcasting station side. At this time, the table contents of the memory 218 can be rewritten from the broadcasting station side through the telephone line. This rewriting can be performed at night, etc. by so-called no ringing incoming call. When the ring detection circuit 205 of the block diagram shown in FIG. 7 receives this no-ringing incoming call,
It has a function to receive incoming calls without ringing.

FIG. 15 shows the microcomputer 3 of the adapter device 25.
00 is an example of a processing routine for rewriting the table. In this example, table data is sent as a DTMF signal from the broadcasting station side, and the table information in the memory 218 is rewritten.

Upon receipt of the no-ringing incoming signal, this routine starts and goes off hook (step S4).
1). Then, table data is sent from the broadcasting station side in the form of a DTMF signal via the telephone line, and this is received by the DTMF receiver 217 and decoded. The microcomputer 300 receives this decoded data (step S42).

In the next step S43, the detection output of the external telephone off-hook detection circuit 203 is searched and the external telephone 2
4 is off hooked. Or DT
It is determined whether or not the MF signal is detected. Then, when the external telephone is off-hook or when the DTMF signal is not detected, the processing jumps to step S51, the adapter device 25 on-hooks the hook switch 208, and ends this processing routine.

This is because the no-ringing incoming call is given priority to the call, and therefore the external telephone 2 is used for the no-ringing incoming call.
This is because when 4 is off-hook, that one has priority.

In step S43, when the DTMF signal is detected without the external telephone being off-hook, the process proceeds to step S44, it is determined whether or not the data end is detected, and when the data end is not detected, Step S
Returning to 42, the DTMF signal is received until the end of data is detected.

When the end of data is detected, the process proceeds from step S44 to step S45 to judge whether or not the received data has consistency. If there is no consistency, the process proceeds to step S50 to give a buzzer sound indicating a reception error. It is generated and notified to the user, and then the process proceeds to step S51, the hook switch 208 is on-hooked, and this routine is finished.

If it is determined in step S45 that the received data have consistency, the process proceeds to step S46, and the previous table data is erased from the memory 218.
Then, the process proceeds to step S47, and the received table data is written in the memory 218.

Then, in the next step S48, it is checked whether or not the writing is normally completed, and if there is an abnormality, the process proceeds to step S50, and a buzzer sound is generated to notify the user of the reception error. , Then step S51
If the writing is completed normally, the user is informed by the buzzer sound that the table rewriting is completed normally in step S49, and then the process proceeds to step S51 to hook the hook switch 208 to execute this routine. finish.

As described above, the table data in the memory 218 can be rewritten from the broadcasting station side when necessary. In the above example, the table data to be rewritten is sent as a DTMF signal from the broadcasting station side, but if the data format can be sent through the telephone line, a corresponding decoding circuit is provided in the adapter device 25. The condition is not limited to the DTMF signal format.

In the above embodiment, the interactive program information is DTM.
The F signal is used to multiplex the broadcast audio. DTMF signal receivers are widely used for telephones, and adapter devices for receiving devices can be manufactured at low cost. Since the interactive program information is a DTMF sound, the microphone of the adapter device picks up the sound and the built-in DTMF receiver decodes the sound. For this reason, the receiving system does not need to improve the television receiver at all.

However, the DTMF signal receiving / decoding section may be built in the television receiver, and the NCU section may also be built in the television receiver, instead of the above-described adapter configuration. In this case, the remote commander for the response and the remote commander for the television receiver can be shared.

[Other Embodiments] In the above example, the telephone voting service is used for the response, but it is also possible to use the mass information providing service called so-called the dome for the response. In this mass information providing service, service subscribers such as broadcasting stations prepare sound source lines and sound source devices, and a large number of users call a predetermined telephone number (for example, 0180-99-XXXXX) set by the telephone company. When a telephone call is made, the voice information from the sound source can be simultaneously provided to the large number of users.

In the case of this mass information providing service, access to the above telephone number by a large number of users is
It is possible to provide voice information to a large number of users at the same time by avoiding the puncture of the line, and it can be used for providing information on TV shopping and providing correct answer messages for quiz programs.

Further, rewriting of table information is not performed by receiving a call from the broadcasting station to the user's house by no ringing and sending the data through the telephone line, but calling the user to the telephone number of the telegon service or the teledome service. Alternatively, the table data may be sent to the user side as a response message thereof.

The program-related information of the interactive program may be superimposed on an empty horizontal section within the vertical blanking period of the video signal. Also, in the case of multiplex broadcasting in which bidirectional program related information is multiplexed as a sub-audio signal for audio multiplexing, or a signal in a band different from that of a video signal or an audio signal as a main broadcast signal for carrying multiplexed data is used. Also, it is possible to deal with this by simply changing the extraction and decoding processing of the multiplex data.

The present invention can also be applied to satellite broadcasting and cable television broadcasting. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the television broadcast and the receiver has been described. However, the sub-broadcast information such as the access data of the bidirectional broadcast is set to a relatively narrow audio like the above example. As long as it is configured by using, for example, a DTMF signal within the band and is multiplexed with the main broadcast audio signal to be broadcast, it can be applied to AM and FM radio broadcasts and PCM audio broadcasts and receivers corresponding to each. Is.

The present invention can also be applied to character multiplexing using an empty frequency band of FM broadcasting. That is, instead of the FM character multiplex signal, by multiplexing the interactive program related information, the same configuration and effect as described above can be realized.

[0177]

As described above, according to the present invention, the telephone number correspondence table and the parameter table are prepared in advance on the response device side and stored in the memory, and from the broadcasting station side, they are stored in the memory. Since the designated data designating what is used for the response among the stored table information is multiplexed with the broadcast signal and transmitted, the amount of data multiplexed with the broadcast signal can be reduced.

Further, since the response destination telephone number is not directly multiplexed on the broadcast signal, the user who does not have the table information cannot make a response and the response number can be kept secret.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of table information used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a DTMF signal.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a DTMF signal.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a telephone voting service.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an overall outline of an embodiment of a two-way broadcasting system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an adapter device as an example of a response device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific configuration example of the adapter device of the example of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of receiving multiplexed data in the response device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a response transmission process in an embodiment of the response device according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of table information used in the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing another example of table information used in the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another example of table information used in the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart of another example of the response transmission processing in the embodiment of the response device according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the rest of the flowchart of another example of the response transmission process in the embodiment of the response device according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a flowchart of table rewriting processing in an embodiment of the response device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Broadcasting Station System 20 Receiver System 21 Television Receiver 22 Adapter Device Main Body 23 Remote Commander 25 Adapter Device 22MC Microphone 22PD Remote Control Receiver 23SD Light Emitting Unit 23K Operation Button 30 Telephone Station System 31 Telephone Line 217 DTMF Receiver 218 Memory 300 Microcomputer

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display area H04N 7/14

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A two-way broadcasting method for providing a two-way program expecting a response from a broadcasting side through a telephone line of a receiver, wherein a telephone number stored in a memory provided in a device on the receiving side is selected from the above. From the broadcast side, specify the specification information that specifies the telephone number to be used as the response destination for interactive programs.
A two-way broadcasting method characterized by being multiplexed with a broadcasting signal for broadcasting. 2. A two-way broadcasting method for providing a two-way program expecting a response from a broadcasting side through a telephone line of a recipient, in which a telephone number of a response destination and a response stored in a memory provided in a device on the receiving side. From the correspondence table with the related information, designation information for designating what is used when transmitting a response to the interactive program is multiplexed from a broadcasting side to a broadcasting signal and broadcasted. Interactive broadcasting method to do. 3. The bidirectional broadcasting method according to claim 1, wherein the multiplexed signal is a DTMF signal, which is mixed with the broadcast sound and multiplexed. 4. A response device for transmitting a response to a two-way program provided by broadcasting via a telephone line, comprising: a memory for storing one or a plurality of telephone numbers of the responding destination; Decoding means for decoding designation information for designating the telephone number of the response destination multiplexed in the signal; means for reading the telephone number of the response destination from the memory by the designation information decoded by the decoding means; A response device for bidirectional broadcasting, comprising a response processing means for making an automatic call using the read-out response destination telephone number when transmitting a response. 5. A response device for transmitting a response to a two-way program provided by broadcasting via a telephone line, wherein a correspondence table of a response destination telephone number and response related information is provided.
One or a plurality of memories for storing, decoding means for decoding designation information for designating the correspondence table multiplexed in the broadcast signal, and correspondence from the memory based on the designation information decoded by the decoding means Means for reading a table, input operation means for accepting a user's response operation, and processing for a response through the telephone line by using the read correspondence table according to the response operation by the input operation means A response device for interactive broadcasting, which comprises: 6. The response device for interactive broadcasting according to claim 5, wherein the response-related information of the correspondence table includes information relating to response transmission control or information relating to a response to be transmitted. 7. The interactive program broadcasts a question and options for the question, and the memory includes choices for the question and telephone numbers of response destinations corresponding to the choices. A plurality of correspondence tables are stored, and the designation information multiplexed in the broadcast signal designates a correspondence table to be used for response from the plurality of correspondence tables in the memory. The means for transmitting a response to the telephone number of the response destination obtained from the read correspondence table in response to a selection response operation of an option through the input operation means. A response device to the interactive broadcast according to Item 5. 8. A telephone number of a response destination corresponding to the option is a telephone number of a telephone company's telephone voting service.
A response device to the two-way broadcast described in. 9. The interactive broadcast response device according to claim 5, wherein the telephone number of the response destination corresponding to the option is a telephone number of a large-volume information providing service of a telephone company. 10. A response device for bidirectional broadcasting according to claim 4, wherein the multiplexed signal is a DTMF signal, which is mixed with the broadcast sound and multiplexed.